Finfluencers to Financial Planning: Turning Online Interest into Client Relationships

Written by: Hunter Lord, CFP, Essential Planning, LLC, MDRT Member

Financial advice is no longer confined to an advisor’s office. Social media is full of video explaining 401(k) contributions, whether to choose Roth or traditional accounts and where to put your extra cash. Finfluencers are getting young people interested in retirement planning and investing strategies. They are making foundational financial concepts accessible to people who may not have sought them out otherwise.

The challenge begins when a 30-second video is treated as a financial plan. The more complex someone's financial situation becomes, the less likely generalized advice is to account for the full picture. For advisors, that creates an opportunity to meet clients where they are, build on what they have learned and show them the value of personalized financial guidance.

Look Beyond the Soundbite

The problem with financial content online is not always that the information is wrong; it’s often incomplete. One of the most common examples with my clients involves younger wealth accumulators who are earning more than they ever expected and are unsure what to do next. They may have maxed out retirement accounts and seen advice online suggesting that putting every additional dollar toward their mortgage is the obvious next step.

I recently met with a young couple earning roughly $500,000 annually who were considering doing exactly that. Becoming debt-free sooner sounded appealing, but putting so much additional cash into their home could leave them house rich and cash poor. If they later decide to buy a boat, or pursue another intermediate-term goal, accessing money already put into their home could be difficult or expensive. A long-term financial plan can lower debt while preserving flexibility to achieve other financial goals.

Another video I recently saw promised to explain how to “make your kids rich” using a 529-to-Roth IRA conversion. The underlying planning opportunity was legitimate, but the short video left out important requirements, including limitations on how and when those funds can be moved. Someone who acts on the headline without understanding those details could execute the strategy incorrectly and create an entirely new problem to unwind.

These are opportunities for advisors to ask: How does this strategy fit into everything else you are trying to accomplish? This question opens up a broader conversation about the client’s priorities and tradeoffs that are so often absent from a short piece of online content. It gives advisors the context to determine whether a strategy works for the client’s goals, timeline and other financial decisions to help them see the “bigger picture”.

Show Clients Where Personalization Matters

Generic financial guidance becomes less useful as clients accumulate income, assets, responsibilities and competing goals. Consider the common advice that contributing pre-tax dollars to a 401(k) is preferable because it reduces taxes today. People understandably like the idea of paying less in taxes, but the right decision depends on much more than today's tax bill. Whether Roth or traditional contributions make sense requires considering a client's current tax bracket, alongside where we expect that client to be in the future.

That type of projection is difficult to capture in a social media post because there is no universal answer. The advisor's value goes beyond knowing more financial information than a client can find online; it’s understanding enough about that client's financial life to determine which information applies and to laser-beam their attention on the issues that matter most.

Not everyone needs that level of planning immediately. Some of my young prospective client’s situations remain too straightforward to justify the cost of an ongoing relationship, but we still take the opportunity to help them.

We hold “Ask Anything meetings,” where we complete a fact find, sit down with the prospective client and walk through what we would do if we were in their shoes. Sometimes the answer is simple: keep contributing to your 401(k), fund your Roth IRA and come back when you reach the point where you still have additional cash flow and are asking, “What do I do with this?” This is often when financial planning becomes less about following the next general rule and more about choosing among several strong options.

Educate Today to Build Relationships Tomorrow

Finfluencers have also demonstrated a simple but overlooked idea: people want financial education when it is understandable and engaging.

Some financial advisors use social media extremely well. One advisor whose YouTube content I follow uses engaging, short-form content alongside longer videos that explore planning topics in greater depth. Importantly, the content makes clear when a strategy is complex, and viewers should seek professional guidance to implement it correctly.

Advisors don’t need to become finfluencers themselves, but they can learn from that approach. Sharing useful information without implying that one video can replace individualized planning can demonstrate expertise while helping consumers understand what a holistic financial plan actually requires.

The same principle applies offline. I believe advisors should always be willing to help, even when someone is not yet an ideal client. I have spent hours with younger prospects, given them an initial plan – space to “ask anything” - and told them to come back when their financial lives become more mutli-faceted, “…when things get messy.” Many have.

It can be easy to look at a young person without significant assets today and decide that the time is better spent elsewhere, but that individual could be one of your best clients 5 or 10 years from now. Investing the time to educate them establishes what an advisor relationship should be built on in the first place: trust.

Finfluencers have changed where many people begin their financial education, but they have not eliminated the need for financial advisors. In many ways, they may be bringing more people into the conversation. When advisors welcome that curiosity, provide the right advice and invest in relationships early, social media becomes less of a competitor and more of an entry point to “true” financial planning.

About the Author:

Hunter Lord is a Financial Advisor and Managing Partner at Essential Planning, LLC in Portsmouth, NH. He is a 6-year MDRT member, with 3 years as a Top of the Table qualifications.